PANORA — The course at the West Panorama Par 3 Golf Course is a demanding one, and the times for both each race Thursday reflected the challenges awaiting each harrier.
“The boys ran well and are improving, even though their times from this race don’t reflect that,” Panther head coach Greg Thompson said. “This course is a very difficult one and the boys field was very competitive with six ranked teams in the field.”
A total of 20 boys teams and 261 runners competed in the race. Nodaway Valley won with 67 points, with AC/GC second at 86 and Boyer Valley third at 132 while Class 1A No. 6 Panorama edged Tri-Center, 146-147, for fourth place. Ogden (173) was sixth, with Ballard (227), WCV (237), Woodward Academy (249) and Des Moines Christian (258) completing the top 10. Also competing were Earlham (273), Saydel (289), Madrid (336), Ankeny Christian Academy (374), Mt. Ayr (397), Audubon (434), Woodbine (448), IKM-Manning (502), Colo-NESCO (506) and Van Meter (549) also in action.
Andrew Stumbo of Ogden was first to finish, crossing in 17 minutes, 21.91 seconds. WCV’s Rylan Hoffernan was second in 17:54.6 and Boyer Valley’s Ben Behrendt third in 17:58.81.
Danny Nordquist was the first Panorama finisher, stopping his clock at 19:12.13 for 18th place. Mitch Wagler (25th, 19:25.69) and George Appleseth (26th, 19:28.45) were close behind, with Josh Carstens (33rd, 19:46.54) and Kaleb Randel (44th, 20:15.1) also recording team points. Sam Webster (60th, 20:37.85) and Austin Behrends (90th, 21:45.22) were the other varsity runners, although their places were not used for the team total.
Running for the Panther junior varsity were Erik Olsen (21:55.42), Bryant Thompson (22:48.32), Drew Hafner (23:21.48), Tanner Kuta (23:34.01), Lucas Wasson (25:02.6), Jared Stagg (25:49.45) and Colton Sigel (25:54.93).
Thompson was also pleased with the effort of his varsity girls team, although he did issue a challenge to many of the runners.
“Brianna (Hoffman, who is ranked 18th in 1A) and Devyn (Kemble) ran well,” he said. “Brianna stopped in the middle and threw up and battled calf cramps but still finished eighth. The girls need to have better performances from the 3-7 positions.”
Hoffman was the eighth girl to finish, but as two of the top seven were from schools without the five runners required to create a team score, was tallied as the sixth runner in the points count, with Kemble seventh.
Their efforts helped the seventh-ranked Panorama girls finish second with 96 points, three clear of third place AC/GC (99) but well behind team winner Ballard (38). Colo-NESCO was fourth with 123 points, with Earlham (149), WCV (156), Tri-Center (179), Ogden (181), Madrid (227), Van Meter (269), Mt. Ayr (285) and Saydel (308) completing the 12-team field that had 141 individual entrants.
Nodaway Valley’s Reagan Weinheimer won in 20:42.85, with AC/GC’s Kate Crawford second in 21:17.94 while Eva Fisk of Earlham was third in 21:22.71.
Hoffman’s gritty 22:12.18 and Kemble’s strong 22:39.2 led the Panthers, with Lydia Lindstrom (25th, 25:39.62), Emily Smith (28th, 26:00.79) and Lydia Knapp (30th, 26:04.58) also scoring. Brooklyn Behrends (31st, 26:06.35) and Maddie Knapp (35th, 26:29.07) ran for the varsity as well.
Taylor Rishel (26:46.84), Chloe Webster (26:50.76), Bryn Steffen (27:03.39), Mallorie Pittman (28:22.26), Maggie Smith (28:25.03), Maisie Knapp (29:38.34), Molly Simmons (29:52.62) and Anna Holloway (30:00.6) ran for the Panther junior varsity.
A two-mile middle school race was held for both boys and girls in grades seven and eight.
ADM (40) and Madrid (88) claimed the top two of nine team spots, with the hosts ninth at 224. A total of 98 runners competed.
Logan Christe (32nd, 16:03.28), Paul Hansen (44th, 17:32.66), Alec Mills (46th, 17:52.4), Kevin Cogil (50th, 18:13.82) and Avery Norman (52nd, 18:40.71) ran the circuit for Panorama.
The Panther girls dominated their event with 29 points, well ahead of second-place ADM’s 50 points. Entries numbered 86 for the girls race.
Ella Waddle and Angel Poldberg were 1-2 for the home team in 13:29.91 and 14:20.7, with Gwen Steffen and Laci Rishel 6-7 in 15:46.88 and 15:49.41, respectively. Olivia Steffen’s 16:42.74 was 13th to cap the team scoring. Grace Webner (15th, 16:49.05) and Abby Cobb (16th, 16:53.66) were also in action.
“The junior high runners were impressive,” a pleased Thompson said. “They ran much better than last week. Several times were much faster than last week even though this course is very difficult.”
The Panthers return to action Thursday with a visit to Audubon, with a return to the 5×80 Golf Course in Menlo for the Wildcat Invite, hosted by WCV.
